Social Constructivism in Learning

From the start of my teaching career, I have advocated the role of social constructivism in the learning process, particularly for adults.

For me, the theory of social constructivism identifies the way in which we as individuals can all agree on certain social constructs as fact, but may not agree to those artifacts (tangible or intangible) when it comes to placing meaning on or in them.

Let me demonstrate what I mean by providing an example I use with my students.

My student group comes from a wide range of countries, bringing with them a variety of beliefs and values. I ask the group to think of the color red. Then, from a selection of colored bars in a wall chart, I ask them individually to select the correct color. Naturally, they all select the same colored bar.

Next, I ask them to take a moment and write down what they believe the color red represents. The results of this exercise are sometimes pleasing, sometimes startling. I have had responses that range from the Sun, Love, and Roses, to death, fire, and murder.

Next we discuss the fact that, although we all agree on what the color red looks like, why do we have such differing ideas on what the color represents? This discussion is often heated, but invariably fun. Eventually, we are able to agree that the differences in meaning arise from the differences in cultural beliefs, life experiences, a view of the world that surrounds them, and so on. In other words, the meaning arises from the social artifacts that exist in their own portion of what we call life. Even students from the same cultures and similar backgrounds have sometimes disagreed, supporting the idea that social constructivism is as much a personal as a group phenomenon.

Just one of those things that makes me go Hmmmmm...